Revenge of the Fire Sages
by Darth Comrade
Summary: It's been three years since the gang saved the world, but Aang forgets that a far greater challenge lyes ahead of him. Meanwhile, the Four Nations are still climbing out of the ashes when a new threat reveals itself.


A.N.

Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon.

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Chapter1- The Vision

The clouds of the dream world, thick and colorful, slowly cleared.

"Aang." The voice whispered.

"Aang." It belonged to a woman. Her voice very familiar, though difficult to point out.

"Avatar Aang." Now he could see clearly, the familiar Air Nomad garments and the unmistakable features of Avatar Yangchen stood waiting for him. All around her was mist and trees he's seen before so long ago. His old spirit from a past life, he related to Yangchen far more than any other Avatar spirit, due to her upbringing among the Airbenders.

He bowed to greet her, "Am I in the spirit world?"

"Yes." She stood motionless, but her face translated anxiety, "Avatar Aang, have you forgotten your place?"

The question struck him hard. The last time anyone spoke of such a thing was when he abandoned his people so long ago, What do you mean? I restored peace between the Four Nations, haven't I?"

"Just because the war has ended does not mean your duties as Avatar are relieved, Aang. You have a duty for your people, our people, the Airbenders. You need to bring them back."

Suddenly, Aang felt a new weight put on his shoulders, she was asking the impossible, "But…I'm the last of the Airbenders."

She shook her head, "Not the last of the old Airbenders, Aang. The first of the new. As long as you live so do the ways of our people. They are carried on with you, but you must pass them on before it is too late."

"But _how?_"

As her words began to fade so did she, Aang called after her, but the dark clouds returned to conceal her, "Avatar Yangchen!"

The last he heard was her whispers, "…Before it is too late."

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Stepping out into the icy and quiet South Pole night, Aang tightened the Air Nomad cultural poncho to help him stay warm. He didn't need anything more, he grew up in a cold environment after all, and his Bending abilities allowed him to sustain heat in his body.

He sat to the side of the hut and with a stretch of his palm he lit the campfire. For quite some time now this was where he and Katara ate everyday. It was a simple life, a child of the monks wouldn't ask for anything more.

It's been long since he contemplated how the years have passed. Three years to be exact…and they were incredible.

Since their marriage, he and Katara left Ba Sing Se and decided to settle in her old Southern Water Tribe village to help restore her society. Together they did wonders for the village, expanding it and restoring a lot of its old infrastructure. This encouraged a lot of settlers to set up new villages near by, and they're well on their way to becoming a fully recognized civilization once again. Many have credited Aang for it, but it was all Katara, really. If it wasn't for her love and passion for her people, none of this would've happened.

Sokka and Suki also got married, together they settled on Kyoshi Island. The town there is also growing, but the biggest surprise came last year when Sokka became the father of a little boy. Aang will never forget the frightened yet hopeful look on his face when he first held his son. That was a beautiful day.

There wasn't much news of Toph since she returned to her parents. Although she visited on the day Suki gave birth, she refused to talk much about her life, instead she preferred to reminisce the 'good old days' as she recalled the war. Katara believes that her parents are keeping a hold on her, but as soon as she's old enough there won't be escaping her.

The years since the war were a dream, alright. But the last couple of days have been strange.

Since Katara went to visit her grandmother the other day Aang was overcome with a strange flu, which quickly passed overnight. That night he saw a dream of mists and a jungle- the spirit world- although he didn't know it at the time. Katara told him to shrug it off, despite her unusual behavior that day; she seemed flushed and very quiet. He thought nothing of it, but when the behavior went on for another day he began to notice it. Later that night a similar vision occurred, causing him to wake up with chills and cold sweat.

And today things only got stranger. He barely saw Katara because she's been at her grandmother's, and then he saw Yangchen in a vision just now, confirming his visions of the spirit world and urging him to bring back the once thriving Air Nomads after their fall for over a hundred years.

Just the thought of it is daunting. How is he going to bring them back? Could there have possibly been survivors? No, that can't be, no one has seen any Airbenders. And even if anyone did survive they would be dead by now. Why would Yangchen assign him an impossible task? It makes no sense.

"Aang?" He turned to find Katara in her bed robes walking over to him, "What are you doing?"

He wasn't sure either, "I couldn't sleep."

She sat beside him on the stool and leaned on his shoulder, glancing over at him, "Is something bothering you?"

He stared at the fire he started, trying to find a way to explain the past couple of days to her, but preferred to keep it simple, "I had a vision, like the ones I used to have back in the war."

Katara always hated to bring up the subject about the war, he even felt her grip tighten on his arm, but she wasn't going to brush aside something if it bothered him, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was Avatar Yangchen, the Air Nomad before me. She said I have to bring back the Airbenders."

Katara withdrew her hand, "But they've been gone for over a hundred years."

"I know, I know! But she still insisted there was a way." He didn't know why he was telling her this, if he can't think up of some way to bring back a dead civilization then how could she? Aang rubbed his forehead, he could feel a migraine coming on as was normally the case when he stressed over something.

He's been trying so hard to forget about the loss of his people for so long that trying to think back now brought back pains he thought were gone.

"Maybe there is." Katara muttered thoughtfully.

Aang lifted his head and raised a brow at her, "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was something I've been wanting to tell you for the last two days but…I wasn't sure how to say it."

Indicating from the way she was rubbing her shoulder and rolling her eyes, Aang knew that for Katara this was a buildup to something big.

"Aang," she looked back at him and smiled, "I'm pregnant."

He blinked twice as drool oozed out of his gaping jaw. This was indeed big news, bigger than anything he expected. As wonderful a surprise as it is, he didn't understand why fear also dawned with it.

"Well? What do you think?" she laughed uneasily.

"That's…that's…great!" Aang gave her a quick tight hug before he drew back and showed concern, "Wait…are you sure?"

"Yes." She laughed and hugged him back, "That's why I've been visiting Gran Gran so much, I wanted to be sure before I told you. Don't you see, Aang?" she pulled out of the hug with a wider smile, looking him in the eyes, "This is what Yangchen was talking about. I don't want to bring your hopes up too high, but…our baby might just be an Airbender."

Aang's heart skipped a beat then he turned away. If what Katara is saying is right, then he might just find a way to give back to his people what he owed them for so long…a new, fresh start, a second chance! The thought of this being a possibility rejuvenated a part of his heart which died many, many years ago atop a mountain cliff where his old Master's bones lay rotten and broken before him.

"Our baby….an Airbender." He repeated to himself and blinked the tears away, "Katara, do you know what this means?"

"Yes, I do." She pulled his face towards her and offered him a smile, "It means everything to you."

She put his hand on her stomach, allowing him the satisfaction of being that much closer to their child, and then waited to see his reaction.

"Katara?" He grimaced inducing her confusion, "What?"

"Why isn't it kicking?" he frowned.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "That's because it hasn't got any legs yet, Aang."

Together they sat till dawn and watched the sunrise just as they did on that fateful day in Ba Sing Se. To Aang's relief, everything is back to normal once again, except this time there's a glimmer of hope for his people too.

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A.N.

I'm leaving you all for a bit with this taster. After that there should be regular updates at least every week.


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